Memories

Ah, a stroll down memory lane yesterday. Carlos Delgado went yard and drove in the tying run with a double. David Wright drove in the game winning run with a 9th inning double, scoring 2. And Armando Benitez, well, he reminded us of Armando from his Mets days.

John Maine had a tough outing, in a way, a reminder of last year (and a little like Oliver Perez). With a major difference. The difference was that despite 6 walks in 6 innings, he limited the damage to 3 runs. When he started to lose focus, Delgado, doing his best Keith Hernandez impression, paid him a visit on the mound and told him not to worry, that if he held the Giants in check, the Mets would win. Alas, John did not move to 6-0, but the Mets moved to 5-2 on the trip out west, and stayed tied for first with the Braves (thanks to the Padres bullpen once again blowing a 1 run lead late in the game).

Delgado's home run was impressive, a blast into McCovey Cove. The double may have been even more impressive, as he took a pitch from nearly his shoes and drove it to left center. The shift hurt the Giants, as the ball went into no mans land, and Beltran, who was running on the 3-2 pitch, was able to score standing up, sore quad and all. I hope that we are seeing the emergence of Delgado here. He has been lacing the ball a lot of late.

As for Mr. Wright, the leader of the he-man hair haters club, he went 1-4, but the hit was the winning one. He went 2-4 Tuesday after the haircut, and is now hitting 254, still a far cry from the 320 or so we expect, but he is coming around. Again, he is stroking the ball well.

Mr. Benitez was the victim. He had been 14-15 in save situations, his prior blown save coming last year on a home run to Lastings Milledge, which resulted in the Hi-5's and the controversy over that. Yesterday, he came into a tie game gave up a single to PLD, who was erased on a failed bunt by Gotay (who had homered earlier). Endy then walked, and Benitez induced a pop up to right from Reyes. Looked like out #2, except for fielding folly on the part of the Giants, who could not make the grab. Now, Benitez was set to face Wright with the bases juiced. He promptly went to 3-0 (the umpire had a really tight strike zone yesterday). After a strike, Wright took the next pitch to left, a one hopper to the wall. Two runs scored, and Billy Wagner came in to set the Giants down 1-2-3, with 2 strike outs.

So we got to remember what it was like when Carlos could be called "Del Got It", and David could drive in a winning run. We remembered what it was like to come back to win. And we were thankful that another team had to deal with the meltdowns of Armando. I like those memories. I want more.

An off day today, followed by a 3 game set at Shea against the Central Leading and best record in baseball holding Brewers. This is a good test for the Mets, as they have not fared well against teams with winning records, nor have they done well at Shea. The pitching match-ups are not entirely favorable

Suppan vs. Sosa
Sheets vs. Pelfrey
Capuano vs. Perez

Then again, many thought the Webb vs. Sosa matchup last Saturday wasn't a good one, and it worked out OK. I just hope we get to be reminded of last year, when we were able to dominate teams. The next 40 games are very tough. The Braves may not be going away anytime soon, so the Mets need start firing on all cylinders.